


You

by PerriewinkleNerdie



Category: Open Heart (Visual Novels)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:02:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29655177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerriewinkleNerdie/pseuds/PerriewinkleNerdie
Summary: Claire and Harper go out for drinks.
Relationships: Ethan Ramsey/Main Character (Open Heart)
Kudos: 17





	You

**Author's Note:**

> PB tried to pit them against each other. As if. Not on my watch, PB.

Claire fell into Ethan’s arms with a broken cry, his hands pressing her closer to him as the aftershocks rocked through them. His chest was moving up and down rapidly, stars that covered his vision moments before already starting to disappear. He couldn’t stop kissing her, his lips reaching any piece of skin he could reach.

She slid off his body, making herself fit right into his embrace with a heavy sigh. The comfortable silence was a stark contrast to the sounds they were making just moments before, when they were begging for each other with deep moans and cries of pleasure. Eventually, Ethan cleared his throat.

“That was a good escape, Claire.” He muttered, kissing her temple gingerly. “Thank you.”

She laughed, turning her head to look at him. “You’re making it sound as though you’re with me only for my ability to make events like this less of a horrible torment.”

“That’s an added bonus. But not the main reason.” Ethan kissed her with such intensity that it took her breath away. His arms wrapped around her, pushing their bodies close, not an ounce of air between them. “There are _plenty_ of reasons, all of which make me unable to stop thinking about you.” He kissed her head tenderly. “Looking at you.” Two more kissed on both of her eyelids. Her eyes opened and their gazes met. “You made it impossible for me to leave you.” His lips brushed against hers with utmost adoration. “Which is a good thing. Because I don’t want to.”

Claire’s eyes sparkled warmly, his words providing her the reassurance she didn’t know she craved. “Then it’s an equally good thing that I don’t want to leave you either.”

After a long moment of getting dressed, interrupted by one pulling the other into the kiss that threatened to get them going again, they finally managed to get back to the atrium. They didn’t go far, though, because Ethan’s had enough of the party for one evening. Pulling on her hand, he guided her to his side and pressed his lips to her ear.

“Go home with me.”

With a raised eyebrow, she turned towards him. “One round wasn’t enough?”

“One round is never enough with you. So?” he smirked as he answered, trailing his hand down her back and towards her hip, squeezing it suggestively. She barely managed to nod before he guided her towards the exit, an invigorated spring in his step making her laugh.

~

Three days later, Claire found herself by the bar with Harper Emery by her side. It was the surgeon’s idea to go out for drinks and she accepted without hesitation. They ordered a martini each, leaning against the counter as they talked.

“Even though my schedule is much more regular, I still feel like I don’t sleep enough.” Harper sighed, tapping the stem of her glass with her nails. The blonde doctor nodded in understanding.

“There’s no such thing as ‘enough sleep’.”

“For you, there’s not.” She winked at Claire knowingly, the younger woman blushing furiously. “Whatever you’re doing to him, please continue.” Harper continued, turning towards her fully to look at her. “You keep him in check, whether he knows it or not.”

“I thought that was your skill.” Claire said absentmindedly before she could stop herself, echoing Ethan’s words from a few days ago, shocking both of them. Silence rang between them as Harper tried to read the room.

Claire respected Harper greatly. She enjoyed talking to her about various subjects, both of them challenging each other to be better doctors. Dare she say, they were on their way to becoming friends. But she would be lying if she said that the past few days haven’t left her feeling a bit left out.

She wasn’t jealous. She wasn’t given any reason to be. Ethan and Harper, for the most part, acted like she expected them to act, two friends that just so happened to have dated in the past. What she was could be best described as confused by her current situation.

The uncertainty she was feeling was most likely caused by all the changes happening around her, and she was struggling to keep up. With Harper now on the team, Claire thought that, at times, she was being frozen out of the conversation entirely, be it because she lacked the context of the said conversation or because the other two members forgot she was even there.

During the Diagnostics Team assignments, it felt as though she was left outside, struggling to join the group again. In any other moment, she was everything Ethan saw.

He was unapologetic in his affections towards Claire. Holding her hand without caring who saw. Kissing her in his office when they were alone, and he just couldn’t help himself but pull her towards him. Tangling his fingers with hers under the table during the meetings.

They had a relationship without saying what it was exactly.

All those factors made her feel as though she was losing bits of the ground she was standing on and she wasn’t entirely sure why or what to do about it.

Harper looked at Claire for a long moment, trying to decipher what just happened. Earlier that day she noticed how quiet she was, different from her usually confident and bright attitude. It couldn’t have been anything regarding Ethan’s feelings towards the resident; those were set in stone.

She knew that Ethan was far gone for the young woman since the moment she saw the two of them in the corridor all those months ago. He had a glint in his eyes every time she was in the room and his voice got softer and warmer when he talked to her or about her. It’s the first time she’s ever seen him that into someone and she was sure that there was no going back for him. Claire, however, seemed to not be so sure about where she was standing in all of this.

In that moment, Harper remembered the shadow that passed Claire’s face when Ethan interrupted her on the first day. And then how uncomfortable she looked every time she had to interrupt Harper and Ethan’s conversation. It dawned on the surgeon how her actions might have looked to the younger woman, despite the fact that it was never her intention to make Claire feel or think any of those things.

“It used to be. Long time ago.” Harper finally answered, looking straight at the blonde. She wanted to make sure that there were no misunderstandings and that they were both on the same page. “Ethan’s been my close friend for over a decade. Yes, we did date, but that’s in the past. All he cares about right now, is you.” With a friendly smile, she leaned forward, dropping her voice to a whisper. “I know it. You know it. And so does Ethan.” Claire nodded, thankful for the honesty and straightforwardness. After a moment, Harper continued, finally getting to the elephant in the room. “I didn’t mean to make you feel as though your input during the team’s meetings was unwelcome. I got overly excited by the case and it made me careless, something that I’ll make sure won’t happen again. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.” Claire finally cracked a hint of a smile, the dust settling in her mind and leaving clarity in its place.

Both women felt the tension slowly leave their bodies. Even though they were both adults and some things went without saying, discussing the changes that were happening around them grounded them in their new reality. With another round of drinks, they both loosened up, giggling at the stories they shared with each other. Neither was the type to gossip necessarily, but conversations like these brought them a bit closer together, merging the gap the unfamiliarity created.

Harper sighed, leaning her head onto her hand. Her expression was more sober than it was just moments ago. “I can see why Ethan cares about you so much.”

Claire’s eyebrow shot up in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“You’re driven. Smart as hell. There’s something in you that just pulls people in.” she explained, her words curling around the edges under the influence of the alcohol they both drank.

“Walking magnet, ladies and gentlemen.” The blonde giggled, pointing her fingers at herself. The corners of Harper’s eyes crinkled happily.

“You’re funny. If there’s only one person that can make Ethan smile and laugh this much, it’s you. I’d be willing to bet my next drink that he has cramps in his cheeks by now.” A warm blush colored Claire’s face at that, the corners of her lips rising slightly. “You’re a good person.”

“So is he. And so are you.”

“Not that type of a good person. You make people want to become better.” She placed her hand on Claire’s, tapping it slightly. “You challenge him. You push him when he needs it.”

“He’d say that I disagree with him too much.”

“Not to mention that you’re literally impossible to dislike.”

At that, Claire huffed. “Tell that to my ex-friend that sabotaged me in my intern year. Or to Ethan during the first day of the very same year.”

“He didn’t dislike you. You intrigued him.” The older woman corrected her, taking a sip of her martini. “I would know, he vented to Naveen and me that day.” A knowing grin was back on her face, clearly enjoying how easy it was to make the younger doctor smile. “And good for you that this ‘friend’ of yours is an ex-friend now. People like them can go fuck themselves.”

“Amen.” They clinked their glasses, grinning in understanding.

~

An hour or so later, Claire walked into Ethan’s bedroom, closing the door behind her as quietly as she could. With movements that could stand to be more controlled, she removed her clothes, pieces falling to the ground almost soundlessly. Throwing on one of his t-shirts, she climbed into the bed carefully, letting his expensive bedsheets engulf her completely.

Ethan got woken up by the sound of the front door opening, so when she was close enough for him to reach her, he wrapped her in his arms and pulled her into the space next to him. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, her hair creating a soft pillow for him to rest his head on.

“I thought I wasn’t going to see you tonight.” His voice was thick with sleep, words muffled by his lips pressing against her skin. “Did you enjoy your night out with girls?”

It was then that she remembered that she hasn’t exactly told him who she was going out with. She’d tell him tomorrow, for she was sure that if he were to find out now, he’d wake up completely and want to talk about it. Something that wouldn’t be ideal, given the fact that they both had an early start tomorrow.

“Sure did. I really needed it.”

“You talked about me?” he teased her, sucking on her neck gently, careful to not leave a mark.

“We… Ethan, don’t start something you can’t finish.” Claire panted, squeezing his arms in a warning. His hands dove under the fabric of the shirt she was wearing, tracing lazy patterns on the skin of her back. His teeth grazed her collarbone, his intent clear.

“Who said I can’t?”

“The alarm on your bedside table.”

Ethan hesitated for a moment, genuinely weighing his options, then sighed and leaned away. “I’ll finish tomorrow, then.”

“I’ll hold you to it.”

~

The very next morning, Harper walked into the office, focused on her surgery schedule. Claire was sitting by the table, lost in the article she was reading.

“Morning, Claire.” She greeted her with a warm smile, taking a seat by her side. Taking a look around the room, she noticed that they were alone. “Ethan didn’t come to work with you today?”

“He’s getting us coffee. I got his text five minutes ago, saying that he’s running late because the line is long.”

“Good thing I had mine with breakfast or else I wouldn’t be able to function properly.” Harper joked, nudging the blonde with her elbow. “Ethan must be going insane in there.”

“Oh, he’s losing his mind. If there’s anything he hates, it’s waiting and not knowing something.” Claire laughed, leaning back in her seat.

“Speaking of not knowing, how did he react when he found out we went out for drinks together?”

“He doesn’t know yet. I told him it was a girls night, which, for the record.” They shared a knowing look, the sheer memory of the number of martinis they had making them grin. “It absolutely was.”

“For some reason it made me think of the time I told him I went on a double date without him.” the older woman recounted, prompting a surprised look from Claire. “I was my friend’s wing woman, nothing else. Not gonna lie, it was funny to see his face when the truth was out. Needless to say, he wasn’t amused when he found out it was a joke.”

“You know what, I would pay heavy money to see the look on his face.” The blonde doctor giggled, failing to notice the mischief on Harper’s face at first.

“Maybe you’ll see it for yourself.”

~

Ethan walked into the office, two cups of coffee in his hands. His irritation was reaching its limit, caused by the mile long line in the coffee shop, all thanks to that one customer that just couldn’t make up his mind. Claire and Harper were already there, talking in hushed voices and giggling about something.

It was clear to him that his partner was feeling like herself again. He’s spent an entire evening wondering what the cause of her subdued humor could be, but it only hit him when he sat down to do some paperwork.

Going over everything that’s happened over the span of the past few days, her cautiousness made perfect sense. Hell, if he was on the other side of the situation, he probably would have felt the same way.

Having come up with a possible reason, he wanted to talk about it with her. Something he should have done before they even came back to work. It was a sensible thing to do, communicate with his significant other, and yet, he neglected to make sure she was completely comfortable before they stepped back into the hospital. He imagined that if the roles were reversed, he’d like to know of changes ahead of time too, even if only to prepare himself or have the opportunity to ask questions.

She wasn’t home then, and when she did come back, they were both too tired to start such an important conversation, so it was still hanging in the air between them.

Seeing her now, however, made him think that, somehow, the whole thing got resolved without his input. Claire was laughing with Harper, both women comfortable with each other. He still wanted to talk to her, understand what was going on in her mind, but they’d have time for that later.

“He wasn’t looking at me.” Claire muttered, waving her hand at Harper. The words piqued his interest, making his focus strain to listen in.

“He was _absolutely_ looking at you. I’d go as far as to say that the other one was looking at you too, but that would mean that none of them were looking at me and _that_ would be, you know-“

“ _A disgrace.”_ They both finished the sentence, shaking their heads as they laughed.

“What are you two gossiping about?” Ethan asked, sitting down next to Claire and handing her a cup of coffee. She took it with a grateful smile, taking a sip before putting it down. His fingers found hers under the table, squeezing gently.

“Harper got herself a date last night.” The younger doctor explained, grinning knowingly at her.

“I got his _number._ That hardly counts as a date. And besides, let’s not be modest here, you almost did too.”

“What?” his gaze moved between the two women, his voice a bit too loud to conceal his surprise. The conversation continued without a hitch.

“I most certainly did not.”

“He wanted to get your number.” Harper argued, now grinning widely at the pair before her. Claire was good at pretending, she had to give her that. Ethan, in the meantime, was a disaster when it came to any form of hiding his feelings, the confusion on his face clear as day.

“Yeah, but he didn’t.”

“Because you have boyfriend.”

At the mention of the term, Ethan’s posture straightened slightly. It was high time that he finally addressed his feelings for the woman next to him and made it official. If he’d already done that, situations like these wouldn’t be happening.

Claire squeezed his hand as the word was spoken, her neck blushing a little.

“If I remember correctly, the information about my relationship status hasn’t discouraged him from throwing bad pickup lines our way.”

“ _Your_ way, Claire.”

Ethan’s confusion seemingly went unnoticed. Both Claire and Harper were barely able to contain their laughter, though, very much aware of his reactions to their little stunt.

“What are you two talking about-“ he started talking, and then something clicked. A memory of a very similar conversation he had with Harper a few years ago that turned out to be a joke. “You’ve done it again, haven’t you.”

“It’s just a bit of harmless fun.” She laughed, leaning her weight onto her elbow that was resting on the armrest.

“And you pulled my own girlfriend into it too.” He continued, letting the word slip into his sentence before he could filter his thoughts. Claire squeezed his hand again. Harper smirked at the couple, silently congratulating herself for successfully pulling the word from him.

“Okay, enough of small talk, let’s start on the case.” Claire announced, changing the subject and passing them the file she had prepared. Her hand remained locked with his, the warmth of his skin providing her with comfort.

The two women got right into it, working through the symptoms and suggesting possible causes. Ethan was positively distracted, not really focused on what the conversation was about. Upon asking, he couldn’t say what the question even was.

“You okay?” Claire asked softly, detangling and tangling their fingers together. He cleared his throat, nodding his head to refocus on the subject at hand.

The meeting concluded a few minutes later, Harper bidding them farewell and immediately standing up to leave for her next surgery. The pair remained seated, neither making a move to stand up. Claire flashed him a knowing smile.

“Girlfriend, huh?” she asked and immediately after the words left her mouth, Ethan groaned. A furious blush crept up his neck and onto his cheeks, betraying him like nothing else.

“We’ll talk about that at home tonight.” He offered, knowing that it was a rather long and very serious conversation they were about to have, one they shouldn’t be having in the passing while being at work.

Claire nodded in agreement, standing up to stretch, her arms above her head. Ethan watched her from his seat, his face unreadable.

“So, you went out with Harper.” He pointed out, his eyebrow going slightly upwards.

“Two women absolutely count as a girls night.” She explained, her previously bright expression now evening out. “I wanted to talk to her in a neutral environment. Clear some things up and get to know her as a person, not a doctor.”

Ethan nodded slowly, then rose from his seat to stand next to her. He placed his hands on her arms, running them up and down comfortingly.

“I take it you two talked about the team.” He said more than he asked, unsure what answer he expected.

“The team… and you.” she hesitated before answering, then deciding to tell him the truth. He hummed in acknowledgement, his fingers skimming over her sides before grasping her hips and guiding her gently to the table, making her lean against it.

“Is that why you’ve been so subdued lately?” concern in his voice revealed that he already knew what was probably making her insecure. Claire leaned upwards, brushing her nose against his jaw.

“You could say that. But we can talk about it after work. For now, I have other things on my mind.”

“Like what?” he questioned, curious about the direction of her thoughts. She smirked, wrapping her arms around his neck to bring him closer to her.

“Like the look you gave me when Harper mentioned the man at the bar.”

Ethan rested his hands on the small of her back, leaning further down to make their lips brush against each other.

“I don’t like sharing.”

“You won’t have to.” Claire hummed, pressing a fleeting kiss to his lips. “And for the record, Dr. Ramsey, I’m not sharing you with anyone either.”

“We’re both greedy people, then.” With a smirk, he pushed her onto the table and kissed her properly, losing himself in her.


End file.
